World Music Features

Ziggy MarleyFilmed during the 2005 Africa Unite symposium and the conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as part of Bob Marley's 60th birthday celebration, Africa Unite chronicles the work that the Marley family has done to fulfill Bob's hopes for a unified land. Ziggy Marley talks about the project and the family's trip to the motherland.By Matt Scheiner

Steve ReidSteve Reid has played the drums behind Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Fela Kuti, James Brown, Miles Davis, and many others. For his new album, Daxaar, with the Steve Reid Ensemble, he returned to the continent, recruited some of the top local players and told them simply to jam. And jam they did.By Jeff Tamarkin

The BanjoUniquely American and classically maligned, the banjo has seen a serious resurgence in pop, world and jazz circles over the past decade. We assembled a round-table of topnotch musicians—bluesman Otis Taylor, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, rock-jazz firebrand Bela Flek, and bluegrass champions Tony Trischka and Abigail Washburn—to talk about their instrument of choice.By John Seroff

AphrodesiaHailing from the Bay Area, the members of Aphrodesia recently made a musical pilgrimage back to Mother Africa, eventually landing a gig at Fela's legendary Shrine nightclub. Playing Afrobeat and then some, the band has drawn on those experiences to create some bold new music, making Lagos By Bus the best album of its career.By Derek Beres

Amir ElSaffarAmir ElSaffar bridges the gap between Iraqi and traditional maqam and free-form jazz, paying tribute to thousands of years of musical heritage. His elegant playing of the santoor (hammer dulcimer) and his micro-tuning technique with trumpet evokes a Baghdad from another time.By Jason Gardner

Randy Raine-ReuschVancouver-based musician, composer, musicologist, and innovator Randy Raine-Reusch has been called "the Beethoven of the avent-garde," and is credited with helping to create a generational shift toward preserving indigenous music and cultural practices in Thailand and Malaysia.By Bruce Sach